The Brief History of Gaia

The Earth - Gaia - is about 4,6 billion years old. For an easier understanding, let's cut this time-span down to 46 years. The early years of Gaia's existence are clouded in the mists of history.

It wasn't until the age of 42 that the earth started to bloom.

After about 44 years, dinosaurs inhabited the planet. Some eight months ago the first mammals evolved,

and during this last week the first hominids entered the scene.

Modern man has existed for only about four hours; some sixty minutes ago he took up agriculture,

and a minute ago the industrial revolution began.

During these very last sixty seconds man has managed to turn Gaia into a garbage dump,

to exterminate thousands of plant and animal species, to kill an uncountable number of his own kind,

to loot the planet's resources, to pollute soil, air and water and to leave radiating waste for future generations.

Within the next few seconds, all of us will decide whether we are going to make life on Gaia impossible,

or develop a consciousness that allows us a future existence with Gaia.

Lovelock and Margulis named their theory for the earth goddess "Gaia", because Earth and its

atmosphere have the ability to regulate and sustain the necessary conditions for life.

It would be wrong, however,

to interpret these findings to mean that if we continue to go on as we have so far,

that Gaia - Spaceship Earth - would live on though,

without its human passengers.